Marketing Martyrdom to Teens

Merchandisers not only are banking on teenagers believing in God, but also on their desire to buy the T-shirt, do the Bible study, and wear the bracelet.

After the tragic shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado and Wedgwood Baptist Church in Texas, martyrdom is becoming a common theme for youth pastors and a business opportunity for retailers.

“We quickly realized there was something in this event that young people were drawn to,” says Jason Janz, a youth pastor at South Sheridan Baptist Church in Denver.

To inspire kids with Cassie Bernall’s proclamation of faith, Janz worked out an endorsement agreement with Bernall’s parents for a line of “Yes, I Believe” merchandise that includes bracelets, hats, T-shirts, and a testimonial video. A Web site (www.yesibelieve.com) allows visitors to register for Bible study, purchase materials, and chat with other teenagers about Bernall’s example.

Janz also got the permission of Bernall’s parents to write a play and a Bible study based on her life. And She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall, written by her mother Misty, has stayed on bestseller lists since its October debut.

A percentage of the proceeds from all “Yes, I Believe” merchandise goes to the Cassie Bernall Foundation, which will fund ministry in North America and other countries. One of the first projects supported by the foundation will be the construction of an orphanage and up to 20 homes in Honduras.

Family Christian Book stores also believes Bernall’s story will help move merchandise. In its catalogs and stores the company promotes a similar line of necklaces, key chains, mugs, books, and even a CD, packaged with the well-known phrase, “Yes, I Believe in God,” boldly lettered in red, white, and blue.

The Center for Reclaiming America has developed a program, titled “Yes, I Believe in God,” that encourages students to share their faith in public schools. The program kit includes a T-shirt with a list of student freedoms (including the freedom to bring your Bible to school, to speak openly about your faith, and to wear religious symbols and jewelry), a New Testament, book covers bearing the Ten Commandments, and a “Yes, I Believe in God” bracelet.

Christian artists are also holding up examples of martyrdom. dc Talk, a Christian music group, recently repackaged Foxe’s Book of Martyrs for a new generation, calling suffering saints “the ultimate Jesus Freaks” (see “Elegy for a Jesus Freak,” p. 88).

Singer Steven Curtis Chapman helped create a video program after the fatal shootings that took place at his alma mater—Heath High School in Paducah, Kentucky—in 1998. That program helps teenagers share their faith and recognize violent warning signs in their peers. It is crucial to remind youth that Christians do not live or grieve like people without hope, Chapman says.

But it is also important to guard against the commercialization of faith, says William D. Romanowski, professor of communication arts and sciences at Calvin College. “In some ways, wearing religious paraphernalia is hardly different from wearing brand-name clothing,” says Romanowski, author of Pop Culture Wars: Religion and the Role of Entertainment in American Life. “Both tend to foster a consumer-oriented identity in which purchasing is like an act of faith. Wearing a clothing item that advertises a religious theme can easily be confused with, or even substituted for, genuine belief.”

Copyright © 1999 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Also in this issue

Where Would Civilization Be Without Christianity? Over the past 2,000 years, the gospel has transformed countless lives. Likewise, Christian ideas have shaped cultures. At this turn of the millennium, what contributions to civilization should we celebrate?

Cover Story

Where Would Civilization Be Without Christianity? The Gift of Mission

Cover Story

Where Would Civilization Be Without Christianity? The Gift of Humility

Cover Story

Where Would Civilization Be Without Christianity? The Gift of Literacy

Cover Story

Where Would Civilization Be Without Christianity? The Gift of Science

Cover Story

Where Would Civilization Be Without Christianity? The Gift of Dignity

Elegy for a Jesus Freak

Reflections on Christmas

No Room in the Womb?

Why We Still Need Moody

Fatherhood on the Rebound

Meditations: Drive-Through Christmas

Cassie Said Yes, They Say No

Dispatch From Sierra Leone: Suckled on Gunpowder

Is Christmas Pagan?

The Abortion Debate Is Over

Redeeming Fire

Making Room for God

Ending Hunger in Our Lifetime

New & Noteworthy: Church History

Doctorโ€™s Orders

Ban May Go to Supreme Court

JESUS Film Debuts on DVD

In Brief: December 06, 1999

Feed the Children Battles Controversy

Court Upholds Video Poker Ban

Violence Mars Bonnke's Revival

Arrested Christians Face Deportation

In Brief: December 06, 1999

Hindus Protest Papal Visit

First United Nations 'Spiritual Summit' Planned

Wire Story

Plans for Meeting Between Baptist Jewish Heads Called Off

Wire Story

Homosexuality: Falwell Tames His Tongue

Wire Story

Christians Protest Proposed Mosque

Moscow Meeting Eases Russia's Interchurch Tensions

The Grove Press Bible

Positive About Potter

Lord's Prayer a Musical Hit in United Kingdom

Jailed Sudanese Priests Reject presidential Amnesty

Two Major Philippine Churches Sign Agreement for Closer Links

Leading German Bishop Says Church Will Bow to Rome in Abortion Controversy

Tashkent Christian Threatened with Two-Year Prison Term

New Delhi Center Dedicated to Princess Di's Wish to End 'Stigma' of Leprosy

Homosexual Group Institutes Award for Straight Religious Leaders

Amassed Media: Evolution Wars

Wire Story

Ministries Intensify As East Timorese Refugee Camps Grow

Jerusalem's Church Leaders Usher in Millennium Celebrations

Help Us Develop Our Souls Mandela Tells World Religious Leaders

Australian Church Agrees to Run Controversial Room for Injecting Drugs

Leading Catholic Theologian Outlines His Vision of Next Pope

Campbell Remains Optimistic As She Looks to Life After the NCC

Amassed Media: God Bless America's Candidates

One Denomination at Its Best and Worst

Letters

Ned Grahamโ€™s Woes Shake East Gates

Texas Southern Baptists: Submission Rejected

Brazil: Scholars Debate Mission Methods

Alabama: An Education Gamble

Buddhism: Spirituality Without Religion

Editorial

More of the Same

View issue

Our Latest

Review

The Internetโ€™s Sins Are Our Sins. But It Shouldnโ€™t Escape All Blame.

A critic of tech panic forgets that our tools shape us just as we shape them.

Heaven Is A Homeplace

Hurricane Helene devastated the land I love. My pain points me toward what’s to come.

Review

We Have Never Been Deplorable

A new book critiques elitesโ€™ incurious accounts of the American right and illuminates their complicity in our social breakdown.

You Are the Light of the Public Square

American Christians can illuminate our countryโ€™s politicsโ€”if we engage with moral imagination, neighborliness, boldness, and humility.

Where Ya From?

From Pain to Empowerment with Orsika Fejer-Baas

Orsika Fejer-Baas shares her story of resilience and overcoming domestic abuse.

The Bulletin

October 7, 2023 Remembrance with Yossi Halevi

The Bulletin remembers the tragic events in Israel on October 7, 2023 and the year of turmoil that has come after.

News

UK Regulators Investigate Barnabas Aid over Reports of Misused Funds

The charity is under an โ€œunprecedented level of scrutiny on our financial processesโ€ after founders and top leaders were suspended.

News

Global Methodist Bishops to Dance

The new denomination tussles over its authority structureโ€”but also finds surprising points of unity.ย 

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube